3 Mets players who will not win our trust in 2022

New York Mets v Cincinnati Reds
New York Mets v Cincinnati Reds / Dylan Buell/GettyImages
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Trust is a hard thing to come by. Our world has fake news, deep fakes, and everyone I went to high school with in it. You can’t trust much. You can’t even believe in every player on the New York Mets roster.

There’s a lot of optimism about the 2022 Mets. They have Max Scherzer now and a couple of other proven veterans. But just because players have done it in the past doesn’t mean they will do it again in 2022.

Some Mets players have already earned our trust while others are more likely to disappoint or leave us wondering where it all went wrong. In 2022, these three Mets will not earn our trust.

Mets pitcher Tylor Megill will not get a chance to earn our trust

There’s a good chance Tylor Megill begins the season in Triple-A. It’s not a bad situation for him. He could use a little more grooming on the farm.

Unfortunately, Megill may have some other troubles ahead. Just getting onto the major league roster could be a challenge. He has the former more highly-ranked David Peterson to compete with for those emergency starts. Considering Peterson pitched well in 2020 and only didn’t get more opportunities in 2021 due to injury, I think Megill will fall a little further down the line on the depth chart.

That’s not to say the season will be completely void of Megill in 2022. He should get a few starts at some point in the season. The Mets have an older rotation. And even if they do bring in another younger arm, injuries happen throughout the course of a season.

Whatever big league time Megill has in the coming season, I don’t expect it to be enough for him to earn our trust. His fast rise up the minor league ranks in 2021 came as a huge surprise. Already 26 with an okay half-season under his belt, Megill will only have a limited amount of time to prove himself at the big league level as a starter.

One outside possibility is Megill taking on a reliever role. Before the 2021 season, he actually spent a good number of minor league innings as a reliever. Could the Mets possibly consider moving him into this role sooner than he’d probably hope?

New York Yankees v New York Mets
New York Yankees v New York Mets / Mike Stobe/GettyImages

Mets catcher James McCann won’t look much better this season

James McCann was not the same hitter with the Mets as he was during his two seasons with the Chicago White Sox. Compared to even his weaker Detroit Tigers days, last year was pretty rough.

The Mets signed McCann to a four-year contract prior to the 2021 season. The stopgap until prospect Francisco Alvarez is ready for big league baseball, McCann’s deal—while still rather modest in dollars—could end up being a burden on the payroll sooner than anyone could have hoped.

McCann has a long way to go to get back to the .276/.334/.474 hitter he was during his days with the White Sox. When we consider outliers in a player’s career, those two years look like the high of what he can do. His 2021 Mets performance was closer to his own career averages pre-Chicago.

A few big hits and maybe some more power could help restore some faith in McCann. More likely, he can get a few fans off his back by doing the little things well. This starts and ends with his defense.

The defensive performance of a catcher can get overlooked more than any other position. Things like framing and game-calling aren’t always seen. They can be subjective, too.

But unless McCann is an elite defender and comes away with a Gold Glove in 2022, I just don’t see him regaining any of the trust fans had in him pre-2021.

San Francisco Giants v New York Mets
San Francisco Giants v New York Mets / Jim McIsaac/GettyImages

Mets pitcher Carlos Carrasco will look more cooked than we hoped

Even if we give Carlos Carrasco the benefit of a doubt and write off his first year with the Mets, there’s enough reason to believe he’s closer to cooked than not. Carrasco made 12 starts for the team in 2021, going 1-5 with a 6.04 ERA. It was not what we signed up for.

From 2014-2020, Carrasco was a consistent pitcher for the Cleveland Indians. Late to bloom, he was a tremendous innings eater for a time period when Cleveland was a contender in the American League. His health took a toll on him in 2019 when he had his first rough season since becoming a mainstay in the club’s rotation.

Health, in a far different way, hampered Carrasco’s success in 2021. He missed the first few months of the year. When he did finally step on the mound in orange and blue, the team was ready to give up their spot atop the National League East. He was partially to blame for this. So were the other 25 men he shared the roster with.

I expect better things from Carrasco this year, but nothing too excellent. He pitches this year at age 35. Not every pitcher ages like wine. Some are more like milk.

Carrasco has a ton to prove this year. Beginning with his health, it’s an uphill battle I’m not sure he can reach. If he is a competent number five starter, it’s a victory.

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